Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Teases the Secret Origin of Nightwatcher (Exclusive)

A Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles miniseries is teasing the secret origin of Mutant Town’s protector. The Free Comic Book Day issue of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles gave readers a dark introduction to the new Nightwatcher, opening up the mystery of who this vigilante could be. The story will continue in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Nightwatcher, one of the new series spinning out of IDW’s relaunch of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise under writer Jason Aaron. Nightwatcher made his theatrical debut in 2007’s TMNT computer-animated movie with Raphael donning the armor. The vigilante has popped up in other media, with the question always concerning who is holding the mantle. It appears some of those questions will start to be answered in the comics.

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ComicBook has the exclusive first look at the covers and solicitation for October’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Nightwatcher #2 by writer Juni Ba and artist Fero Pe. Cover A is by Pe, with Jon Lankry illustrating Cover B and Juni Ba drawing the 1:10 RI cover. Each cover gives a different look at Nightwatcher, while also addressing the plot of the issue, which deals with his origin story.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles relaunch gets 300K orders

IDW Publishing revealed the orders for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 from retailers and fans are more than 300,000, ahead of its debut on July 24th. This would make the IDW relaunch one of the biggest comic book launches of the year. Joining Jason Aaron on the first issue of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is artist Joëlle Jones (Batman, Lady Killer) and longtime TMNT creatives colorist Ronda Pattison and letterer Shawn Lee. For the first four issues of the new ongoing series, a different Turtle will step into the spotlight for each issue with a different artist illustrating the story. The first issue revolves around Raphael in prison, and the second chapter will bring in artist Rafael Albuquerque for a story starring Michelangelo. Leonardo is Issue #3 with artist Cliff Chiang, and Donatello is Issue #4 with artist Chris Burnham.

“Thank you to all the retailers and fans out there for believing in what we’re cooking up with this new series and for supporting the book in such a massive way,” stated Aaron. “There are so many cool covers to choose from, and this summer there’ll be loads of pizza parties and big events all over the country revolving around this launch and the 40th anniversary of the Ninja Turtles. But at the end of the day, I’m mostly just excited for people to hold the book in their hands and see Joëlle’s incredible art and read the beginning of what should be a crazy fun ride of a story.”

“From the comic book creatives to IDW staff and our friends at Paramount, everyone working on this series has truly gone above and beyond to make sure it’s an epic and compelling tale that adds to the incredible legacy of the characters that Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird created 40 years ago,” remarked IDW Publisher Mark Doyle. “The whole team deserves this success and we couldn’t be more grateful for the stunning amount of support we’re getting from both fans and retailers. We know this is a TMNT story that’ll be one for the ages for fans everywhere, both new and old.”

What is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Nightwatcher #2 about?

The description of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Nightwatcher #2 reads, “Discover the origin story of Mutant Town’s protector, the Nightwatcher! Life in New York City marches on, but with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles scattered, the mutant population is more vulnerable than ever. The community needs a defender, and as the police struggle to address rising crime rates against mutants, someone else has to step up. A new symbol of safety and justice is born in the shadows, but even the best intentions can lead to unforeseen consequences…”

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Nightwatcher #2 goes on sale October 2nd. You can find the three covers below.